Block 1: Week 2 + Glacier National Park/Yellowstone

We spent the beginning of this week continuing our research for our P&T Committee presentation. After leaving the clinic on Monday, we decided to walk to the Sacajawea Cemetery which is about 5 miles round trip from the house. It was a very flat walk on the side of the road, so it was a nice breather from the hills we had climbed the past weekend. It was very interesting to read the information on the memorial statue and see the bright colors of the cemetery. 

In addition to the continued research Tuesday, we were able to watch Katherine apply a FreeStyle Libre sensor to a patient and then put them on each other. Katherine helped us get set up with the app and showed us how to use the sensors. Unfortunately, they did not survive past the adventures of our weekend.
After we left the clinic, we went to the Scream Shack attached to Lander Bar to get some ice cream. It was DELICIOUS - but make sure you bring cash. If you don't have any, there is an ATM inside Lander Bar. After our dose of sugar, we headed to Ray Lake to walk down the road there. There are several horses along the walk, and we had the pleasure of seeing two litters of foxes. This is a nice area to walk after your days at the clinic if you are looking for something to do outdoors, and we would recommend just parking in the area with the picnic tables and walking the whole stretch down and back from there (about 4 miles round trip). 

Wednesday we presented our research at the P&T Committee meeting, and it sparked some great discussions. Afterwards, Katherine gave us a patient to work up for the pain management meeting taking place the next Wednesday, so we spent the afternoon reviewing that patient's chart. We went home after clinic to pack, and headed to Bar 10 in Riverton for trivia with our TN roommates. They only do trivia during a certain time of the year (they start some time in September and go through May), and 5/31 is going to be the last trivia night for this season. I am not sure when they will restart it, but if you are interested in participating you may need to call right at 4pm the Monday prior to try and reserve a table. Of note, they let people request to have the same table for the following week, so if they are already completely booked that may be why. Even if you don't get to go to Bar 10 for trivia, we would recommend going for dinner because the food was amazing.

Thursday we continued to review our patient chart to prepare for the pain management meeting. We worked with Katherine regarding scheduling for the long holiday weekend and were able to leave at noon Thursday to begin our trip to Glacier National Park. After leaving the house, we headed straight to Cody where we stopped for ice cream. From Cody, we entered the East entrance to Yellowstone where we drove to Old Faithful, stopped by the Grand Prismatic area to walk, and then continued our way to the North entrance. We stayed at Big Rock Inn in Gardiner, MT - this is my second time staying in Gardiner this trip, and I would definitely recommend it! We got there late, so we tried to find food around 9:30pm. Beware - many of the places stop serving well before their listed close times, so if you stay here don't wait too late to find food. 

Friday morning we headed into Yellowstone for the day. We stopped at the Mammoth information center before deciding to head into Lamar Valley for some trails that were recommended by the cashier at the General Store - we had to stop and buy bear spray. Our first hike of the day was to Hellroaring Creek where we got to cross a suspension bridge (pictured below). We did about 4 miles round trip there before heading to Trout Lake (also pictured below). I loved the views doing the short loop around Trout Lake, and the drive through Lamar Valley is filled with wildlife. On our way back toward Mammoth, we decided to walk the Wraith Falls Trail. This was a short, easy walk and the falls were beautiful! I would definitely recommend getting out of the car there.
After our few hikes, we headed back to Mammoth and walked around the springs there before heading back to Gardiner for dinner. We ate at the Iron Horse Bar and Grille in Gardiner and were able to sit by the Yellowstone River which made for nice and relaxing scenery. 

Saturday, we woke up and started our drive up Montana. We stopped at the Montana Grizzly Encounter outside of Bozeman to see a Grizzly bear (and it was WORTH IT). After our brief stop there, we spent the majority of the day driving to East Glacier where we checked into the Mountain Pine Motel. I cannot say enough great things about this place and the owner. When we checked in, he asked what we had planned. We only knew we wanted to hike Many Glacier based off recommendations from those in Yellowstone. The motel owner printed off maps for us, highlighted the best places for us to go, pointed out where we may see wildlife, and helped us make the best out of our short time in Glacier. He advised us to go that afternoon to Two Medicine and hike a few trails there before dinner. We ate at Serrano's in East Glacier that night, and the nachos were delicious!! Savannah and I probably could have shared a plate - beware, it is a lot of food.

Sunday we woke up early and drove to Many Glacier. We hiked a few trails here and the views were beautiful. It really is an amazing place, and it was absolutely worth the drive. After our hikes, we decided to drive into Canada since we had never crossed a border. We ended up paying to go into Waterton Village just to see what it was, and it was super neat! We were surprised by how much of a village it actually was. There were tons of shops and restaurants, and if you are interested there are plenty of places to fish and hike here. We headed back down and decided to drive the portion of the Going to the Sun Road that was open (FYI you can see current road closures for both Glacier and Yellowstone on the park websites). After driving through that section in East Glacier, we turned around and started to head back to Bozeman where we stayed at the Microtel.

Monday morning we woke up and explored Bozeman. We went to Target, Lululemon, Starbucks, and Chipotle - it was nice to have a day that felt like home. We decided to drive home from Bozeman by going through the West entrance to Yellowstone since we had not yet seen West Yellowstone. We drove from there directly through the Tetons and through Shoshone National Forest before finding our way to Fort Washakie to prepare for the next week of clinic.

While Glacier was a lot of driving, it was absolutely beautiful and worth every second in the car!! I would recommend asking the workers for advice on their favorite trails. A lot of them are able to give you very helpful tips. Also, some hikers leave tips about the trail conditions on the AllTrails app.

-Amber Smith




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